It’s the Cultural Difference That Makes the Difference: International Collaboration in Multidiscipline, Transcultural, Design Pedagogy

Hilton, Clive; Muxing, Gao and Rong, Wei (2021). It’s the Cultural Difference That Makes the Difference: International Collaboration in Multidiscipline, Transcultural, Design Pedagogy. In: Proceedings of the DRS Learn X Design 2021: Engaging with Challenges in Design Education (Bohemia, Eric; Nielsen, Liv Merete; Pan, Lusheng; Börekçi, Naz A G Z and Zhang, Yang eds.), pp. 432–438.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21606/drs_lxd2021.10.220

Abstract

For three years, the Communication University of Zhejiang (CUZ), China, and Coventry University (CU), UK, have been collaborating in an annual project that sees multidisciplinary, transcultural groups of undergraduate and postgraduate design students engaging in projects that help prepare them for future employment as culturally aware global designers. Its focus is on an enhanced under-standing of the importance of cultural dimensions, research led collaboration, and the need for empathetic, coordinated communication. In these accelerated, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects, the students self-direct their actions to rapidly break down initial inhibitions in becoming effective, creative problem solvers who, by the project’s end, possess an acute appreciation of the role that cultural perspectives and cultural difference play in the design process. This case study discusses the latest COIL 2021 project – the design of an item of medical equipment. It offers examples of the culturally orientated outcomes and gives insights from participating students. It concludes with explanations of how the COIL pedagogic paradigm is transforming design pedagogy, both at CUZ and CU.

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